Confronting the Real
Barriers to Black Success

By

Jason L. Riley

Updated Oct. 2, 2000 12:47 a.m. ET

M y niece, all of nine years old, stopped me mid-sentence. "Why you talk white, Uncle Jason?" she giggled. Turning to her friend, she continued, "Don't my uncle sound white? Why he trying to sound so smart?" She was just teasing, of course. I smiled, and they enjoyed a chuckle at my expense.

Like most adults when they hear a child speak this way, I was inclined to correct my niece's English. But at the time I was fazed more by what she said than how she said it. After the giggling stopped, I couldn't...